Z31 300zx – Project Z432

You might not know Brandon by his first name, but you might recognise his internet monikers, RVAE34 and RVAE38, a pair of labels tied to a number of high quality builds that have graced websites, forums and more recently Instagram.

You also might recognise him from another build on this site, the LSX E39 wagon. Make sure you head to that post where I write about Brandon’s prowess in not only car building but also his ability to make a killer build thread, which is why any thread of his that makes it onto this site will always be hit with the People Who Get It post tag.

Brandon is currently deep into a passion project, a no-stone-left-unturned restomod of a Nissan Z31 300zx. The car is being built with a philosophy in mind, namely what the Z31 chassis could have been if Nissan bestowed onto it the same level of attention as the Z432 s30z.

There’s no way I can tell the story even half as good as Brandon, so hit the link at the bottom of the post and lose yourself in a good old fashioned build thread (remember those!?) The build isn’t quite complete yet, but with the Safari Gold paint layed down and the ITB’d RB28DE engine assembled it looks like we’re getting close to the finish line.

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Tube Frame VQ35HR 240Z

The remnants of a Datsun 240Z, a late-model engine swap, a whole lot of tubing, and a slathering of carbon fibre thrown in for good measure. This is a complete ground-up build if I’ve ever seen one. The thread actually started in 2009, so there are a few dead links, but all the oily bits are still there for us to enjoy.

You can check out the owner’s website here: Z-car. Thanks to Geoff for submitting (waaay back in 2014!).

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VQ35-powered Mk1 Escort drifter

Hailing from Bristol in the UK, this unorthodox drift car starts out as a Mk1 Ford Escort estate. Soon enough the guts of the car are unceremoniously removed and everything that goes back in is custom built by a very talented owner/builder. The finishing touch is the ex-350Z V6 that finds itself in front of the firewall. The most impressive part about this build (well, the whole damn thing is impressive) is just how fast the progress takes place. With the shell currently in undercoat, I don’t think it will be too long before we see it completed.

Thanks to Alan for submitting. Click here for more drift builds.

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Revisiting the ETS Drift Ute

Engineered To Slide; there’s a good chance you already follow Nigel’s blog and know all about his impressive two and four wheeled projects, both past and present. When I first started this blog, I launched it with a handful of builds already published from the get-go, and one of those was the ETS S13 Silvia, knowing that I just had to include something from his stable when I launched Build Threads.  A couple of years later I was super excited to see his new project taking shape – a scratch-built Toyota Hilux with Nissan S15 running gear – and just had to make a post about it when it wasn’t yet much more than a mockup. After many updates and blog posts over the span of a few years, I had absorbed every image and every word Nigel had posted about his one-off creation. Now here we are, years later, and it’s still just as impressive as it was when it was first completed. Nigel has just posted a retrospective post on the journey with 100 images of his choice, a perfect opportunity to re-live the build…

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EG Civic / S15 Silvia – Stage 1 Complete

It’s been almost a year since we caught up with the Impossible Fabrications / Nulon EG Civic crossed with an S15 Silvia.

The good news is, this little beast is now considered complete as far as stage one goes, and has been tearing up the streets and the track, turning rear tyres to dust. Now the team are looking to screw more power into this formerlly unasumming hatch, and I can’t wait to see how that goes! Don’t forget to check out the video exposé by Motive DVD at the bottom of the post.

Click here for the Nulon Civic / S15 build index.

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RB26 Alfa Romeo 147

Here’s one of my oldest drafts, it’s been gathering dust for many, many years. I pretty much convinced myself I’d never feature it, because the thread stopped receiving updates a long time ago. But I have a desire to purge all of my draft posts, and well, this one is just crazy enough to warrant a feature in it’s unfinished state. If anyone out there knows what happened to this car, if it was ever completed, please let me know! The car starts out as an Alfa 147 Cup Car, it was then stripped down and fitted with GTR underpinnings, before heading to an unknown fate.

Thanks to Jamel for submitting. Click here for more RB26 builds. Click here for more Alfa Romeo builds.

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Broadfield S14 Cluster Build

Waaay back in 2010 (geez this blog is old!) I featured a little exposé on an automotive artisan called Toby Broadfield. I’ve been visiting Toby’s blog on-and-off since around that time, always in awe of his attention to detail when cutting up and re-shaping interior pieces. Now that I’m getting closer to overhauling my own interior and gauge cluster, I find myself re-visiting his blog just that little bit more. When I saw this detailed write-up focusing on all the steps he took to modify a customer’s S14 Silvia cluster, I thought it was too good not to share.

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Project 510: Random Snaps

The Datsun is now resting in it’s new home, and having easy access to it means it’s been hitting the road a bit more lately. Look forward to an update soon with some new mods.

Click for larger versions, and please link back to the site if you would like to share these images.

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EG Civic / S15 Silvia – Buttoning things up

We’re already up to Part 5 of the Impossible Fabrications / Nulon EG Civic build. In this installment we start at the back of the car to see the rear suspension framework finalised, and an alloy fuel tank fabricated. Then we work our way along the tailshaft and custom transmission tunnel, before heading to the front of the car where the bay is resprayed and the engine re-fitted. It’s almost time for SR20DET  RWD Civic burnouts!

Click here for the Nulon Civic / S15 build index.

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EG Civic / S15 Silvia – Rear suspension & driveline

The guys at Impossible Fabrications are absolutely rocketing along with the Nulon EG Civic build, I can barely keep up! In part 3, we saw the SR20DET inserted into the engine bay, using the S15 front suspension, crossmember and strut towers. Now it’s the rear of the car getting some very similar attention…

Click here for the Nulon Civic / S15 build index.

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